CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
The environment has a significant impact on the lives of all individuals, whether they are students, teachers, employers, or employees. Though some people are still skeptical that a better atmosphere results in improved performance. The school environment, which includes classrooms, libraries, technical workshops, and labs, as well as the quality of instructors, school administration, instructional techniques, and classmates, are all factors that impact students’ academic progress (Orlu, 2013). Thus, the school environment continues to be a critical area that should be investigated and controlled well in order to improve students’ academic performance.
The issue of students in Nigeria performing poorly academically has long been a source of concern for the government, parents, teachers, and even students themselves. Not only does the quality of education depend on the instructors’ execution of their tasks, but also on the school environment’s good coordination (Owoeye & Yara, 2011).
When children move out from their families and into child care centers, schools, and the larger community, they develop ties and friendships via their play. Even newborns and toddlers have been observed responding to other infants by stroking them, sobbing in response to others’ tears, and even delivering nurturance or consolation. However, by the age of three, toddlers develop early connections and their peers begin to exert a more enduring impact (Barbour, Barbour & Scully, 2002). These youngsters begin to think and behave similarly to their peers, and they begin to recognize that there are more values, attitudes, and standards than those established by their parents (Ajuba, 2011).
Adolescents form various peer groups and identify with them through participation in their activities in order to avoid rejection. Peer groups exert a significant amount of influence during adolescence (Majeed, 2010). Peer groups have become an increasingly essential framework in which teenagers spend their time in contemporary culture. Age segregation has increased as a result of modernization—in schools, the workplace, and the society. How much time a teenager spends with friends will have a significant impact on his or her growth into a mature adult (Barbour, Barbour & Scully, 2002).
The teenager spends the most of his time with peers. He adheres to the group’s principles; he wishes to be totally welcomed. Nothing is more traumatic for an adolescent than being rejected by his peers (Vishala, 2008). Adolescents are mostly impacted by their peers, and their views, beliefs, and behaviors are shaped by what is deemed acceptable by others (Dewey, 2008). Castrogiovanni (2002) defines a peer group as a small group of people of similar age who are fairly close friends and participate in comparable activities. This research aims to explore the relationship between the school environment and peer impact on students’ academic progress in economics, with a particular emphasis on certain chosen secondary schools in Dutse, Gombe State.
1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
Numerous research on the school atmosphere, peer impact, and academic success of pupils have been conducted outside of Nigeria. Furthermore, in Nigeria, the majority of the limited studies available on the school environment, peer impact, and its likely effect on students’ academic progress were theoretical studies with subjective conclusions based on the researchers’ own judgments. It is observed that previous research did not devote sufficient attention to the issue at hand (Lang, 2014). As a result, this study will bridge the gap by conducting an empirical examination of the link between the school environment, peer influence, and students’ academic progress in economics in Gombe State.
When it comes to economics students’ low academic achievement, people are often too ready to blame parents and students. However, the fundamental problems confronting education in Nigeria since independence are largely due to school environmental factors, which range from insufficient school structures, poorly equipped classrooms, a high rate of school enrollment, insufficient instructional materials, and high drop-out rates to insufficient facilities; all of which contribute to widespread failure in public examinations in economics. These difficulties prompted the development of the famed 6-3-3-4 method. However, the issue of economics students performing poorly academically remains (Adamu, 2014).
Another significant factor affecting students’ academic achievement in economics at the secondary school level is peer pressure dynamics. Peer pressure has supplanted parental influence as the primary source of values and behavioral impact in adolescents during the previous 50 years, according to research (Oni, 2010). Along with this new tendency has come an unprecedented increase in antisocial behavior, as students are increasingly being misled and controlled directly or indirectly by the group of friends they retain regardless of academic brilliance. In this vein, Abd-Elhamid et al (2014) cautioned that friendships play a significant role in both harmful and beneficial activities and that peer pressure predisposes adolescents to engage in a variety of deviant behaviors, including alcoholism, gangsterism, robbery, and violent secret cult activities, even to the detriment of their academic dreams and eventual outcomes. Given the preceding, it is reasonable to assume that some of the social vices and low academic success observed annually in Nigerian senior secondary schools in courses such as economics are a result of a hostile school climate and peer group effect on teenagers.
1.3 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
The primary objective of this study is to assess the impact of school environment and peer group on students’ academic performance. Specifically, this study seeks to:
i.         Determine the extent school environment impacts on students’ academic performance.
ii.       Determine the extent peer group influence impacts on students’ academic performance.
iii.     Examine the impact of peer group influence in Nigerian secondary schools.
iv.     Examine ways peer group influence can be curbed in secondary schools.
v.       Examine ways school environment of Nigerian secondary schools can be improved.
